How Did They Find Their Way To Hybrid?

By Julie Kelley

I started out as a paper scrapper… Through high school and college, I was constantly saving memorabilia - like movie and concert tickets, programs, etc. I, also, saved them along with photos in a large scrapbook, adding some journaling about the time and place. After I had my son, these books started to transform into the more traditional format that we usually see now.

At the same time, I was starting to become more active on various online message boards. Creating fun signatures using photos and Photoshop was my start into digital scrapbooking! They were very basic at first, but then I found digital scrapbook supplies, and, WOW, did that improve the quality…and the fun factor!! It wasn’t too long before I found and completed a digital tutorial on a traditionally paper scrapbooking site and was completely hooked!

“Sweetness”
Shabby Princess has a paper line with Bo Bunny, and of course her digital designs as well. I combined both in this layout, printing digital elements and using her “real paper” as well.

By Chere Nordstrand

I’ve been traditionally scrapbooking and making cards for 7 years and digital and hybrid scrapbooking for almost 2 years. I’m a Photoshop Elements and CS user and have been for quite a while. I’m a hands on type of person so I taught myself on both programs by playing around. I mainly used them as tools for touching up and editing my photos for use on my traditional pages. Up until a couple years ago I had no idea that these tools could be used to do such amazing things with digital kits, brushes and actions on my photos and scrapbook pages.

I literally fell into the hybrid world of scrapbooking. I was a collector of digital kits and freebies for a long time but never really did anything with them, I just knew I liked them and eventually one day I would actually use them. One day I was directed to a website where a couple of my online friends were designing and I started looking at all these beautiful things they were creating and instantly the light bulb went off. I started asking questions about it and thought I would give it a try. I purchased one of the digital kits and started playing around with printing on transparency, cardstock, printer paper, tissue paper and whatever else I could get my hands on. I was completely hooked from that point on and was asked to join the design team at that very site.

At that time, I was informed of a new magazine that was coming out that was all about hybrid scrapbooking called Scrapbook Dimensions. I submitted a few of my layouts, including my very first hybrid layout I ever did to the magazine. The magazine ended up putting my first hybrid layout on the cover of the premiere issue and of course I was beyond excited. Now, one year later, I am part of their Dream Team and I get to create and share what I know and my experiences as well as learn from everyone else.

Hybrid is a huge part of my scrapbooks, my hobby and my life and always will be.

“36″

I used Jenna Desai’s Doodle Frames and Masks and Rainy Day kits for this layout. I printed out the doodle frame (with photo) and the flowers and the journaling arrow. I then cut out some of the flowers and raised some of them up with pop dots at different levels to give it some depth. I traced around the outside of the flowers with watercolor pencil and used a water brush to soften. All of the clay elements and buttons on the page were also hand made out of polymer clay.

By Gina Lideros.

I started paper scrapbooking in 1997, when a friend introduced me to the hobby. I loved the hands on approach to paper scrapbooking and the concept of being able to preserve my family’s most cherished memories. It started off with decorative scissors and stickers, and gradually transformed into a creative art form. Before long, I had purchased every product line and tried just about every technique possible. I was a devoted paper scrapper and was convinced that nothing would ever change that.

Then in 2000 my husband took a new job position that led us to a new city. I was away from my family and friends and I felt a desperate need to connect with other scrapbookers. I did a web search from my ho

me computer and discovered a world of online scrapbooking communities. Through these online communities I made many friendships and broadened my knowledge of scrapbooking. Before long, I found myself purchasing a scanner and digital camera so that I could share my work with fellow scrappers and participate in online galleries.

As my knowledge of the hobby grew so did my obsession. I started to use the computer for journaling and titles, then gradually worked my way into photo altering and simple techniques such as printing on transparencies. Soon my computer became an irreplaceable tool in my scrapbooking and I just couldn’t seem to finish a project without it.

I started collecting digital freebies from various websites that I had visited, but I was reluctant to start digital scrapbooking. At first the terminology and the time consumption of learning it all on my own really frustrated me. Then I took a class on how to use Adobe Elements 5.0. It opened a whole new world of possibilities. I dove right in and created my first digital layout. As time went on I became more and more comfortable working with digital. I fell in love with the ease of shopping for digital products and the instant gratification that they bring. I started printing out my digital pages and adding traditional elements to satisfy my need for a hands on approach. That’s how I discovered Hybrid scrapbooking – a fusion of paper and digital, that is truly the best of both worlds.

“Lucky”
Save space by typing your journaling or title directly on your digital photos. It’s an easy technique that adds a special touch to your photos. You can see more on this at the Scrapbook Dimensions Blog HERE.

By Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

I am a messy perfectionist. That sounds like an oxymoron, I know. But, it’s the truth. You see, I like things to be perfect, but my perfect is not an orderly one!

I started scrapping several years ago and from the beginning, my pages have been filled with paint, handwriting, doodles, and messy edges. In fact, I think my best work has been done when I act without fear and just do it! Splash that paint over the photo! Sand that corner away! Cut into that gorgeous paper! Being careful doesn’t appeal to me.

At the same time, I don’t like pages with heaps and heaps of meaningless “stuff” on them. I think it’s important for the embellishments and papers and design to tell the viewer a story. So, I have devoted time to studying design principles and really think about the cohesion of every project. It’s often the last little bit of a project that takes me forever. I need to know that it’s “just right” before I let go.

This combi

nation is messy perfection.

So, where does hybrid play into this equation? I had seen digi and appreciated it, but I just always felt like it was too flat. It was too neat. Where was the paint and the stitching and the torn layers and the metal and the mess? It was just so…clean! Then, I encountered hybrid.

Whoa.

Talk about meant to be. Like Romeo meeting Juliet. Like peanut butter meeting jelly. Paper and digi are a love story to beat all love stories. I get the visceral satisfaction of playing in my supplies, the emotional satisfaction of innovating in a fairly new arena, and the personal satisfaction of creating perfectly in Photoshop (love the undo button).

I am a very happy girl!

“XOXOX Card”
I love making hybrid cards! And with Quick Card templates, it makes it even easier! Once I printed it out, I just added some embellishments and doodled a border. You can see more on how to make this on the Scrapbook Dimensions Blog HERE.

By Bre Wiebe

I had been traditionally scrapbooking for a couple of years when Mama was trying to install Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 from Costco on our very old computer. We had previously decided that we wouldn’t turn digi, so I was pretty confused as to why she bought it! It was running for a day and that is when I decided digi was the way to go for me. Unfortunately, our computer was unable to run the program and store any pictures, so we had to remove it.

I had almost given up hope, until one day Dad brought home a brand new laptop! The first thing we did was install Photoshop Elements and I began to teach myself. A couple of months later we were at the dollar store and my sister wanted to have a pair of “fairy wings”. When she was running around the backyard in her new found treasures, it just inspired me to create some digi paper! I created it, made a layout, and put it up at scrapinstyle.com. It was noticed and I was asked if I was interested in creating a digi kit. I thought it would be fun to try and I just loved it.

Then one day I really started missing my traditional products, as I had a desk full of them! That is when I began hybrid scrapping, and that is my true love! I praise God for all the little steps along the way that lead me here, it is such a joy! (Editor’s Note: Bre is 12-years-old and an amazing Team Member!)

“right way”
Here is a little inspiration for you to create a quick and easy hybrid page! First create a 8.5 X 11 document in Photoshop. Add your picture, digital frame and any other desired digital embellishments. Print it out and then add it to your favorite pattern paper with title and journaling! Quick, easy, fun!

By Indah Permata Sari

The first time I encountered digital scrapbooking was about 4 years ago, though at that time I was more intrigued to know how to make the things used on the digital kit. I am a graphic designer so wanting to know the process of designing the kit was a natural curiosity for me. Then on and off, learning about it, I stumbled on making my first layout on early 2007. It turns out that scrapbooking was way more fun and interesting than making the elements. I took several classes online to know more about styles and depth of scrapbooking, and then I began creating my first layouts. I love learning and discovering new things and everyday I learn more about scrapbooking and about the program I use to make my scrapbook pages. Now my pages are improving a lot, with more realistic drop shadows (though I don’t think it’s prefect yet) and better layering or use of white space. Digital scrapbooking lets me create pages with wonderful elements to better ‘tell my story’, whether it’s an ordinary everyday life or the important things and dates in life. The undo button lets me perfect a page, and printing the page is an instant gratification of preserving memories beautifully without the mess of paper scrapping (at least much less than creating everything from scratch with 100% paper scrapping supplies). Now when I add my traditional paper and embellishments, it adds a whole new dimensions to my pages.

“Future”
This is the layout I made using a technique similar with paper-tole crafts, which is layering a few of the same patterns or images to create depth. I also used gold paint because even though that can easily be done in digital, i still love the look of a real gold paint that shimmers beautifully! To learn more on how to do this, go to the Scrapbook Dimensions Blog HERE.